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Andy Murray beats Novak Djokovic for first time in two years to win Rogers Cup

Murray will take over the world No. 2 ranking from Roger Federer for the third time in his career.

Andy Murray is the world's second ranked player again after beating world No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the Rogers Cup final in Montreal. (Paul Chiasson / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

By Bill BeaconThe Canadian Press

Sun., Aug. 16, 2015

MONTREAL—It was a big day all around for Andy Murray and his entourage.

On the day his coach, former women’s world No. 1 Amelie Mauresmo, gave birth to a baby boy, Murray ended an eight-game losing run to Novak Djokovic with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 victory at the men’s Rogers Cup on Sunday.

Murray dedicated the win to Mauresmo, who the Scot hired in November in a rare instance of a male player hiring a woman as coach.

“I don’t know much detail,” said Murray, whose wife Kim is due to give birth to their first child in February. “I haven’t spoken to her.

“I’d imagine she’s quite tired. Probably me and my tennis are the last thing on her mind just now, which is totally understandable.”

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Murray is 9-19 in his career against Djokovic and beat the Serb for the first time since the 2013 Wimbledon final, also the last time he beat a world No. 1.

With his performance this week, Murray will take over the world No. 2 ranking from Roger Federer for the third time in his career.

The win will be a confidence booster going into the U.S. Open, which starts Aug. 31. But even Murray is not sure what effect Mauresmo becoming a mother will change with their arrangement. He recently added former ATP player Jonas Bjorkman to his team mainly for on-court work.

“I don’t know the answer because we haven’t obviously discussed that yet,” he said. “It doesn’t change anything through the end of this year because we’ve had six months since we found out to plan and talk about things.

“I employed Jonas. He’s going to be with me pretty much every event I play between now and the end of the year. When Amelie is ready to sit down and chat, then we’ll see what it is she wants do, if she wants to continue doing the job, if she wants to stay at home. It’s really up to her. She’s earned the right to make that decision. I don’t feel like it’s for me to decide.”

The second-seeded Murray posted his fourth tournament victory of the year.

He won $685,200 (U.S.) while claiming the Rogers Cup for a third time after hoisting the trophy in 2009 and 2010. His three wins tie Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Andre Agassi for second place all-time behind Ivan Lendl’s six victories.

The two top seeds split the first two sets in a three-hour match in hot, muggy conditions at Uniprix Stadium.

It played out with Murray serving at 3-1 in the third, already up a break.

A ferocious baseline battle that lasted 18 minutes went to deuce 10 times and Murray fought off six break points to all-but put the match away.

Djokovic had two more break points in the final game, but Murray pounded two service winners and eventually won when Djokovic hit a ground stroke long after a brief rally.

Djokovic said later that pain in his right elbow limited his ability to serve.

“He stepped in, played some great shots. Most of all the moments when he needed to, he served very, very well. That one game when I had I think four, five opportunities to break back, he just came up always with big serves, so I couldn’t do much. But it was a great week all in all for me.”

Djokovic, whose game ran hot and cold all week, missed a chance for a fifth straight win of the year at a Masters 1000 tournament, one level below the grand slams, and a 25th for his career.

He was in a ninth straight tournament final, a run that included wins over Murray at the Australian Open and at Miami.

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